Only 47 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older get the recommended 150 minutes a week of moderate (or 75 minutes of vigorous) aerobic physical activity. Add the recommendations for muscle-strengthening activity and that level falls to 24 percent. One of the key reasons people say they don’t exercise is lack of time. Emerging research suggests that even small amounts of physical activity are better than being sedentary.
Researchers reviewed randomized controlled trials studying the health impacts of “exercise snacks”—brief bouts of activity (5 minutes or less). They found that engaging in moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise snacks at least twice a day three or more times a week for at least two weeks significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness in previously sedentary adults.
